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Showing 7351 - 7400Outcome Measures in Quality and Identifying High-Quality Practice
At this year’s ASCO Quality Care Symposium, Craig Earle, MD, MSc, of the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research, used Donabedian’s Triad—structure, process, and outcome—to set the stage for his presentation on the science of quality. “The theory behind Donabedian’s Triad is that structure...
Experts Consider What It Means to Improve Quality of Care in an Era of Increasing Reliance on Targeted Therapies
Precision medicine is judged according to different values across the multiple stakeholders involved in cancer care. At this year’s Quality Care Symposium, presenters from different sectors of oncology addressed a central question: How do we assess quality in the age of precision medicine?1,2 Right ...
A Business Professor and Husband Turns Breast Cancer Researcher
In more than 25 years of viewing posters at oncology meetings, I’ve met researchers from virtually all professional walks of life, but it was not until the 2016 Miami Breast Cancer Conference, that the author’s affiliation turned my head: It was a business school. “Utilizing Metastatic Tumor...
Jeffrey Fowler, MD, Begins Presidency of Society of Gynecologic Oncology
Jeffrey Fowler, MD, John G. Boutselis Chair in Gynecologic Oncology and Professor and Vice-Chair of Obstetrics and Gynecology at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, started his 1-year term as the 48th President of the Society of Gynecologic Oncology (SGO) at the conclusion of the...
Clifford A. Hudis, MD, FACP, Named ASCO’s Next CEO
Clifford A. Hudis, MD, FACP, Chief of the Breast Medicine Service, Vice President for Government Relations, and Chief Advocacy Officer at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC), and Professor of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College, has been named the next Chief Executive Officer...
Computer-Assisted Decision Support in Medical Oncology: We Need It Now
Today’s medical oncologist is increasingly challenged to stay current with the latest developments in cancer treatment. I have been fortunate to speak with many oncologists over the past quarter-century on how professional life has evolved since the 1990s. These conversations have left me with a...
Throwing Out the Baby With the Bathwater: A Critical Appraisal of the USPSTF Recommendation Against Screening for Prostate Cancer
In 2012, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) issued a recommendation against routine screening for prostate cancer.1,2 The grade D recommendation was considered controversial at the time, and remains so now, because many stakeholders have weighed the same body of evidence and come to...
Effects of Chemotherapy on Pregnancy for Survivors of Childhood Cancer Treated Between 1970 and 1999
In an analysis in the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study cohort reported in The Lancet Oncology, Chow et al found that increasing doses of several alkylating agents reduced the likelihood of fathering a pregnancy among male survivors of childhood cancer, with fewer drug associations with pregnancy...
ENDO 2016: BPA Changes Fetal Development of the Mammary Gland, Can Raise Breast Cancer Risk
A new culture system that tests the role of chemical exposure on the developing mammary gland has found that bisphenol A (BPA) directly affects the mammary gland of mouse embryos. The study results, presented by Speroni et al Friday, April 1, at the Endocrine Society's Annual Meeting in Boston...
Widely Cited Prostate-Specific Antigen Screening Publications Influence Biopsy Rates and Associated Complications
While absolute rates of biopsy and postbiopsy complications have decreased following several benchmark prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening publications, the relative risk for each patient continues to increase, according to a new study by Mayo Clinic researchers. The study is the largest to...
Study Finds Adaptive Image-Guided Radiation Therapy for Bladder Preservation Clinically Feasible in Urinary Bladder Cancer
A prospective study examining a trimodality treatment approach in localized bladder cancer cases using adaptive image-guided, intensity-modulated radiation therapy found that the bladder preservation rate at 3 years was 83%. These findings were published by Murthy et al in the International Journal ...
Endoscopic Mucosal Resection Is an Alternative to Surgery in Most Patients With Complex Colon Polyps
Using the latest advances in endoscopic resection techniques, more than 75% of patients with complex colon polyps could avoid surgery for their polyp removal, according to new research from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. The findings, published by Raju et al in Gastrointestinal ...
Therapeutic Combinations May Prevent Resistance to CDK4/6 Inhibition in Estrogen Receptor–Positive Breast Cancer
In preclinical studies, breast cancer cells became resistant to therapeutics targeting CDK4/6, such as palbociclib (Ibrance), in multiple ways. According to the research published by Herrera-Abreu et al in Cancer Research, different combinations of therapeutics might prevent and overcome the...
Meta-analysis of Gene-Expression Datasets Identifies Novel Five-Gene Pancreatic Cancer Classifier
Pancreatic cancer is often diagnosed at a late stage, when curative treatment is no longer possible. A team led by investigators at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) identified and validated an accurate five-gene classifier for discriminating early pancreatic cancer from nonmalignant...
MRI-Guided Adaptive Reoptimization in Radiotherapy Shows Promise in Urinary Bladder Cancer Treatment
A new radiotherapy technique could help doctors to focus treatment more precisely on tumors in the bladder and reduce damage to surrounding healthy tissue. Researchers showed that pretreatment imaging using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was effective at guiding radiotherapy toward tumors in the...
Quality Improvement Projects Aim at Reducing Errors in Prescribing IV and Oral Chemotherapy
Two quality improvement projects described in the Journal of Oncology Practice resulted in reduced errors in prescribing intravenous (IV) and oral chemotherapy. A project at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston outpatient infusion centers first identified 15 different types of...
Long Noncoding RNA SAMMSON Linked to Malignant Melanoma
In collaboration with researchers from Ghent University, Vlaams Instituut voor Biotechnologie (VIB) scientists from the University of Leuven have revealed a remarkable link between malignant melanoma and a noncoding RNA gene called SAMMSON. The SAMMSON gene is specifically expressed in human...
Clifford A. Hudis, MD, FACP, Named ASCO’s Next CEO
Clifford A. Hudis, MD, FACP, Chief of the Breast Medicine Service, Vice President for Government Relations, and Chief Advocacy Officer at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC), and Professor of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College, has been named the next Chief Executive Officer (CEO) ...
Unique Fellowship Aims to Lessen Global Cancer Burden by Training Foreign Medical Graduates in Surgical Oncology
Many low- and middle-income countries do not have a defined medical specialty in surgical oncology, and lack an educational infrastructure to respond to the local burden of cancer, but a Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) fellowship is succeeding in addressing this problem by training...
ASCO Issues Report on State of Cancer Care in America: 2016
The State of Cancer Care in America: 2016, published online in the Journal of Oncology Practice1 and presented earlier this month at a Congressional briefing in Washington, DC, is ASCO’s third annual assessment of national trends in cancer care delivery. The report highlights many promising cancer...
Somebody’s Watching You: Meet the Tweet Trackers of the Social Oncology Project
In a one-story concrete industrial building across the street from a lumberyard in Austin, Texas, Greg Matthews and his computers are tracking everything that more than 500,000 U.S.-based physicians post publicly on social media. Every tweet. Every public blog, Facebook, or Instagram post. Every...
The Perplexing Increase in Bilateral Mastectomies
The increased rate of bilateral mastectomies, as shown in recently released data from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), is “perplexing,” Ismail Jatoi, MD, PhD, told The ASCO Post. “We are seeing more and more women with unilateral breast cancer opt for bilateral mastectomy,...
A Cancer Patient’s Harried Survivorship Story
There are approximately 14 million cancer survivors in the United States, a number that is steadily increasing, thanks to our advances in detection and treatment. However, surviving cancer can leave a host of physical, emotional, and financial hardships for years after diagnosis and treatment. In ...
A Hard Look at the Connection Between Germs and Mental Illness
The relationship between disease and microbes was first proposed in the 17th century, but the basic standards for proving that infection causes disease were not laid down until 1883, when the German bacteriologists Robert Koch and Friedrich Loeffler provided the first evidence of the processes...
A Doctor’s Prescription for a Long Life
Longevity is a common goal among humans. And like all things human, it is not distributed equally. According to world health data, Japan is number one on the longevity list; its 130 million citizens have a life expectancy of about 84.74 years. The sub-Saharan country of Chad is number 224, having ...
A Gene Hunter’s Advice on How to Take Control of Your Genetic Inheritance
Since the late 1970s, researchers have identified several gene mutations that are implicated in cancer. Many of these mutations are acquired during our lifetime, but, as we know, some are inherited in families. Identifying heritable cancer-causing genetic mutations is a double-edged sword,...
A Drop of Blood
I was a third-year internal medicine resident, rotating through the oncology service, when I was asked to perform my first circumcision. My team was rounding on Tom, a 52-year-old gentleman currently receiving third-line treatment for metastatic esophageal cancer; we were discussing at length his...
A Fight to Remember
In 2006, one of my close friends, Robert O’Connor, won the mayoral race for my hometown of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Everyone loved Robert, affectionately known as “Bob” and often referred to as “The People’s Mayor.” Bob was “Mr. Pittsburgh,” and it was his promise to reverse the city’s...
Benefiting From Mind-Body Therapy
My diagnosis of early-stage breast cancer at age 35 was a shock, also because I come from a family with no history of cancer. In disbelief, I was literally speechless—I lost my voice completely for several days. I grew up in the former Soviet Union and then in the newly independent Kyrgyzstan. My...
Study Shows Breast-Conserving Therapy Beats Mastectomy, but Questions Remain
Breast-conserving therapy (lumpectomy plus radiation therapy) appears to improve 10-year overall survival for women with early breast cancer compared with mastectomy, according to a very large population-based study from the Netherlands.1 However, the study raises more questions than it answers,...
‘Know Your Tumor’ Program Aids Patients With Pancreatic Cancer
Patients with pancreatic cancer can obtain molecular tumor profiling through the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network’s Know Your TumorSM precision medicine initiative, a partnership with Perthera, a personalized medicine service company that facilitates the multi-omic profiling and generates the...
The Time Is Now for the Worldwide Cancer Community to Be Proactive
The ASCO Post recently spoke with nationally recognized surgical oncologist Chandrakanth Are, MBBS, MBA, FRCS, FACS, Jerald L & Carolynn J. Varner Professor of Surgical Oncology & Global Health; Vice Chair of Education; and Program Director, General Surgery Residency, University of Nebraska ...
New High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound Advances Treatment for Prostate Cancer
For the estimated 220,000 men who will be diagnosed with prostate cancer this year, deciding on a method of treatment can be a challenge. Some with early-stage cancer pursue active surveillance, while others with more severe cancer immediately pursue surgery, including prostatectomy. Others fall...
Introduction of New Diagnostic Devices in Oncology: New Is Not Necessarily Better
“New!” “Improved!” “Throw out that old [fill in the blank] and go buy a new [fill in the blank]!” Sound familiar? The key to marketing is to convince customers that they need a product without which they had previously been quite happy. All too often, this strategy is accompanied by a caveat emptor ...
Modified CAR T Cells Overcome Immune Suppression, Effective Against Solid Tumors in Preclinical Models
Adding a genetically engineered “switch receptor” to second-generation CAR T cells blocked PD-1–mediated immune suppression, and made the immunotherapy effective against solid tumors in preclinical models, according to a study published by Liu et al in Cancer Research....
Neratinib Improves Invasive Disease–Free Survival After Trastuzumab-Based Therapy in HER2-Positive Breast Cancer
Chan et al found that 1 year of treatment with the HER1, 2, and 4 tyrosine kinase inhibitor neratinib improved invasive disease–free survival vs placebo after trastuzumab (Herceptin)-based adjuvant therapy in patients with early-stage HER2-positive breast cancer, in the phase III ExteNET...
Hypofractionated Radiotherapy Not Noninferior to Standard Radiotherapy in Late Genitourinary and Gastrointestinal Toxicity in Prostate Cancer
Hypofractionated radiotherapy was not noninferior to conventionally fractionated radiotherapy in late genitourinary and gastrointestinal toxicity in patients with prostate cancer in the Dutch phase III HYPRO trial. These findings were reported by Aluwini et al in The Lancet Oncology. An earlier...
ASTRO Expands Its Advocacy and Government Relations Team With New Assistant Director
The American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) recently welcomed Stephanie Quinn as its Assistant Director of Congressional Relations, a key position on the Society’s government relations and advocacy team. As ASTRO’s chief liaison to Capitol Hill, Ms. Quinn will lead efforts to educate...
Is This the Dawn of Cancer Biosimilars?
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, signed into law in 2010, did more than make it possible for millions of Americans to afford health care; it also established an abbreviated approval pathway for biologic products that are “biosimilar” to, or shown to be “interchangeable” with, a U.S....
ASCO University® Launches New Certificate Programs for Advanced Practitioners
The role of advanced practitioners in oncology is growing as the demand for team-based care increases—and with that growth comes a need for training materials specifically tailored to this group. ASCO University®, ASCO’s home for lifelong learning, has collaborated with the Association of Physician ...
Cancer Survivorship Research: Learning From the Past to Improve Future Outcomes
Soon after effective therapies for some childhood malignancies were first identified, early leaders in our field had concerns about what would happen to surviving patients as they aged. In 1975, Giulio D’Angio, MD, one of the founders of modern pediatric radiation oncology, presciently called for...
Expert Point of View: David Raben, MD
“Proton therapy may very well offer reduced late toxicities. Reflecting back on past reirradiation studies both within and outside of the cooperative groups, it seems that the late toxicities in this retrospective study were somewhat similar,” said David Raben, MD, Professor of Radiation Oncology...
Expert Point of View: David Raben, MD
“As radiation oncologists, we have pushed some important envelopes to try to mitigate long-term toxicity,” said David Raben, MD, Professor of Radiation Oncology at the University of Colorado Cancer Center, Aurora, Colorado. “We’ve been able to utilize intensity-modulated radiation techniques to...
Mutational Profile May Impact Treatment Decisions for Smokers With Human Papillomavirus–Positive Oropharyngeal Cancer
Smokers whose oropharyngeal tumors are positive for the human papillomavirus (HPV) might need more aggressive treatment for their disease, according to research presented by Jose Zevallos, MD, at the 2016 Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancer Symposium in Scottsdale, Arizona.1 Over time,...
Annual Report Cites Continued Decline in Most Cancer Mortality but Trends Toward Increased Liver Cancer Incidence, Mortality
Earlier this month, experts from four major institutions issued the annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer (1975–2012). This year’s report showed that death rates continued to decline for all cancers combined, as well as for most cancer sites for men and women of all major racial and...
Surgeons—Yes, Surgeons—Have a Role in Translational Cancer Research
Surgeons are clearly more comfortable in the operating room than the laboratory, but there is a place for them in translational cancer research as well, according to one surgeon who has led cutting-edge research in pancreatic cancer. “Translational studies require access to patients, to tissue, and ...
Phone Triage System Offers Potential to Reduce Patient Visits to the Emergency Department for Cancer Treatment–Related Symptoms
A quality improvement initiative to reduce the reliance of patients on visits to the emergency department for treatment of side effects related to cancer treatment was reported to be highly effective, according to early findings from a new study. 1 The strategy, involving a telephone triage...
Update on CancerLinQ: A Rapid Health-Care Learning System
On March 26, 2013, ASCO announced that it had completed a prototype of CancerLinQ™, the Society’s groundbreaking health information–technology initiative to achieve higher quality, higher value cancer care with better outcomes for patients. At this year’s 2016 ASCO Quality Care Symposium, Robert S. ...
Anticoagulation in Patients With Cancer: Understanding the Complexities of Prophylaxis and Management
Venous thromboembolic events are more prevalent in patients with cancer than in persons without it. Cancer is associated with a high rate of venous thromboembolism recurrence, bleeding, requirement for long-term anticoagulation, and reduced quality of life. Moreover, thrombosis is the second most...
Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia: The Golden Drug Only for Golden Agers?
As reviewed in this issue of The ASCO Post, Burger and colleagues recently reported findings of the RESONATE-2 trial of ibrutinib (Imbruvica) vs chlorambucil (Leukeran) as initial therapy for elderly patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).1 The study met its primary endpoint of...
